Indicator for barber s shops



(No Model.)

1 B. R. DUDLEY 8e A. B. C OSBY.

INDICATOR FOR BABBERS SHOPS.

Patented Sept. 17, 1889 a i a Afro/mln N. PETERS. Pham Lmmgmn YUNITEDSTATES u PATENT OFFICE.

BEVERLEY R. DUDLEY AND ANDERSON B. COSBY, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

INDICATOR FOR BARBERS SHOPS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 411,281, datedSeptember 17, 1889.

Application filed June 12, 1889. Serial No. 314,068. (No model.)

'O all 1v1/71,077@ t may concern:

Be itknown that we, BEVERLEY R. DUDLEY and ANDERSON B. COSBY, ofRichmond, in the county of IIenrico and State of Virginia, have inventeda new and useful Improvement in Indicators forBarbers Shops, of whichthe following is a specicat-ion.

The object of our invention is to provide a device for indicating theorder of succession of the patrons or customers of a barbers shopwithout opportunity for dispute, and which will also secure to a patronthe privilege of a chair by coming or sending in and appropriating acheck and then returning to his business without having to wait at ihebarber's shop all the intervening time for his turn..

It consists in the peculiar construction and arrangement of a caseadapted to receive and preserve in consecutive order a series ofnumbered checks in combination with means for introducing them at oneend and removing them at the other, which checks are to be taken fromthe lower end of the indicator by the customer upon entering andreinserted at the top upon taking the chair, as will be hereinafterfully described.

Figure 1 is a front elevation; Fig. 2, a vertical longitudinal section;Fig. 3, a transverse section; and Fig, 4 is an enlarged sectional viewof the lower end.

A is the frame or case of the indicator, which is composed of a straightpiece of wood two to three feet long and two to three inches wide. Thisstrip of wood has a wide longitudinal groove a planed out of the sametoform a channel-way for the checks, which channel-way is covered by atransparent front plate h of glass, which is retained in position bybeing slid into grooves or fastened in seats by side strips c c, tackedor screwed to the main frame. At the upper end of the case there is ahopper-shaped metal mouthplate B, designed to facilitate the entrance ofthe numbered checks C into the channel. These checks correspond in sizeto the width of the channel-way and slide easily therein, and arenumbered consecutively. At the bottom of the channel-way are twostop-pins d d, which sustain the vertical column of checks. Thesestop-pins may be replaced by lugs or shoulders on the case. In front ofthese stops or supports are one or more inturned springs e c, whichpress against the lower check. In removing the lower check it is pulledtoward the individual against the tension of the springs until it passesoff the supporting-stops, at which time it may be easily taken from thecase. The springs then catch against the next check of the descendingcolumn.

In use this indicator is hung or fastened by screws in a conspicuousplace in the barbers shop, and proper instructions upon a card or on thewall in large letters are placed nearit, direct-in g each customer uponentering to take a check from the lower end of the indicator. This checkserves to indicate the turn of the customer, and when a customer havingdrawn a check observes another customer replacing in the indicator acheck bearing a number immediately preceding his this second customerknows that his turn is next, and upon the vacation of a chair suchcustomer replaces his check in the indicator and takes the chair.

By the use of this device the barber and the customers are relieved ofall questions and embarrassment as to whose turn is n ext, and customersmay, by sending in and procuring a check, avoid the loss of timeinvolved in waitin g in the barbers shop for their turn to be served.

W'e are aware that indicators for barbers shops are not, broadly, new,and that indicators have been provided in which checks were withdrawnfrom the lower end and replaced in the upper end of achannel; and wetherefore only claim our peculiar construction and arrangement of parts,in which the indicator-case is made cheaply of a single straight pieceof wood grooved and provided with transparent front plate and peculiarretaining devices for the checks, and in which the vertical straightcolumn of checks feed down with certainty and without catching andhanging.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new is- 1. Anindicator for barbers shops, consisting of a straight piece of materialhaving a longitudinal channel with a glass front plate and retainingside strips, grooves, or seats for IOO the same, in combination with aseries of numbered checks, a hopper-shaped mouthplate at the top, andretaining devices for the checks at the bottom, substantially as shownand described. o

2. In an indicator, the combination, with the channeled case andtransparent front plate, of a series of numbered checks, stops at thelower end of the channel for sustaining the column of checks, and aspring orsprings 1o for permitting the lateral deflection and Withdrawalof the checks, substantially as described.

BEVERLEY R. DUDLEY. ANDERSON B. COSBY. Vitnesses:

A. BROCKENBROUGH, JNO. I. CREER.

